Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has announced the government decision to increase the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST).

The announcement was made at a press conference held on Tuesday, at the President's Office.

Minister Ameer announced that the decision had been made to increase the GST by 8 percent while the TGST is to be increased to 16 percent. The government made the decision to increase the GST from 6 percent to 8 percent and the TGST by nearly 4 percent.

Speaking at the press conference, Minister Ameer further stated that the government had decided on fiscal anchors to maintain the fiscal state at a sustainable level. Highlighting the changes occurring in the global economy, Minister Ameer stated that measures need to be taken to sustain the country's fiscal state at a sustainable level. He noted increase in prices of goods in the global market and hike in the interest rates of loans in major economies is boosting debt.

As such, the Minister stated that the government has made the decision to take additional measures in order to decrease state expenditure and increase state revenue.

Increasing the GST and TGST percentage came as part of these measures. The Minister also noted that even though the decision has been made to increase the GST and TGST, it will be brought into effect after six months.

Minister Ameer stated that more information about the measures taken to better the fiscal state of the country will be disclosed in the future.